Did the Peale - Tuk traverse today. Went under the fang rather than over. Overcast day kept the temps comfortable. Had gotten rained out of our CO 14ers trip, so backtracked to the La Sals....made for an excellent Plan B mountaineering day. Beautiful aspens on the way up. Forested gem in southern Utah.

From La Sal Pass. This completed the Utah County Highpoints for me. I needed Mount Waas and Mount Peale going into 8/7/2014 and did Waas on 8/7 and Peale on 8/8. From La Sal Pass I went up the obvious couloir to the ridge and then on to the summit. From Mount Peale I followed the ridge over Mount Laurel to Mount Mellenthin. Returning the same way I got to the three way junction on the ridge for Peale, Mellenthin, and Tukuhnikivatz and then headed over Peale's NW peak and on to Tuk. This was a fantastic two days in the La Sal's where I was able to stand on the top of 10 different 12,000' peak.

started at campsite Medicine Lakes, to La Sal Pass & standard route up snowy couloir as described. With Dennis, Matt, McKinley & Mohamed. We then bagged Mt Tuk, and descended the prominent north/south shoulder between the peaks back to La Sal Pass. A leisurely ~8 1/2 hour hay of hiking. Beware the marmots on top of Peale: they will chew unattended packs, pole handles etc.

Part of the Middle La Sal traverse w/ Tuk. Summited about 4:15 after leaving the trailhead after crossing Tuk and the Razor Fang. Was going to hit Mellenthin on the way back to Gold Basin but chased off by thunderstorms.

Came from the southern pass after camping out below. Brilliant fall colors in these very splendid aspen stands. Large by Utah standards. scrambled up into some slipper snow covered talus and then into the cloads. I did not get the far reaching views I hoped for, but the swirling opening and closing of the clouds gave me glimpses below every so often that were dreamlike.

Climbed the mountain via the south couloir. Reached the summit just a few minutes ahead of a rain squall that was giving off a bunch of lightening and thunder. Got off the mountain as quick as we could.

Deep snow on the approach from the trailhead. After a fun climb up the couloir, we started toward the summit. Decided to turn back when storm clouds gathered early. By the time we made it down, lightning lit up the slopes. Next time I'm in the area I'll try the Tuk/Peale traverse via the "razor fang." Looks like it could be a great route given the right snow conditions.

Strike One: Attempting to access Mt. Peale via La Sal Pass from the west, only to find it impassible and covered in snow. (Google maps has a funny way of choosing the "best" directions.)
Strike Two: Breaking in my new crampons and ice axe climbing the snow filled couloir to the ridge, only to turn back when the weather got nasty. Making it to the truck just as lightning lit up the sky and stuck the ground where we had just made our descent. (Instincts, check.)
Strike Three: Heading down to the lower campgrounds to escape the storm and attempt again in the morning, only to wake up to find a huge aspen blocking the road from the storm the day before, and black clouds building before the sun made an appearance. (Lucky that we weren't trapped on the other side of that aspen!)
Mt. Peale may have beaten me, but I still had fun trying to summit and enjoyed my time in the range. Very nice area and I hope to return!